Memento Mori
by Gala Secrets
Summary: The first year they met, he wore black for a week. They didn't ask and he didn't tell. No one noticed the ring he wore for the week, either. They thought it was a quirk. They find put otherwise over time. One-shot. Skull-centric. Part of "Inconsistent Consistencies"


**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

—

The first time they see the stuntman in all black, they write it off as a quirk. They've only known each other for eight days and none of them trust easily. Nobody asks and Skull doesn't tell. A week later, he's bright colors and high energy again. No one notices that the ring he wore for the week was gone.

The second time coincides with a mission to infiltrate a French Aristocrat's home during a gala. They need a distraction and Skull volunteers. Considering that galas are Reborn's forte, Luce tries to talk him out of it but Skull won't back down so they reluctantly let him. When he comes down in a pristine white three piece suit with a white tie and white shoes, they almost don't recognize him. With light brown hair and no makeup, he looks every bit the aristocrat as their target.

When Skull walks in to the gala, heads turn and whispers rush through the room. A few of the women actually look scandalized and it takes the Arcobaleno a second to realize that he is the only one wearing white. Viper uses their mist to eavesdrop and brings back an interesting bit at the end of the night. They tell the others without a fee because everyone is curious about the Cloud that apparently knows how to work the aristocracy better than Reborn.

"They were scandalized because he was wearing the traditional white of deepest mourning."

He wears black for the rest of the week and no one notices the ring he wore. He doesn't tell them that the face he wore that wasn't his and never will.

The day of the Curse he was wearing black. This is also the day that both Fon and Verde realize that it happens the same week every year. They don't know if anyone else has paid attention to that detail and they won't mention it to them either. Skull rages away from them when the curse takes root and then disappears for the next three years.

When he comes back, he has multiple piercings and his hair is an even brighter purple, if possible. Two weeks later and he wears all black and removes all his piercings for a week. Fon notices and wears a black arm band. Verde wears black shirts under his lab coat. Skull doesn't mention it and neither do they.

Reborn notices the worn ring on the stuntman's hand but says nothing. However, the small pieces of jet and onyx on his nightstand say everything. As does the little slip of paper with an address to an exclusive jeweler written in Viper's hand.

The next year, Colonello gets a fifth of whiskey and brings it down to Skull's garage for a quiet toast. The sniper says nothing when Skull drinks most of the bottle. When Skull drunkenly mentions his brother, Colonello holds his silence. The blond doesn't remind the stuntman when he acts like he doesn't remember, either.

When no one is in the kitchen but Skull, Lal makes small dishes that she grew up with in a small village in Northern Italy that no one has heard of. Skull doesn't tell her that they taste like home and she doesn't mention the fact that she practiced for months to get it right.

At the end of the week, every year, he takes off his ring and puts on all his piercings. The house is loud and chaotic for another year.

This goes for the next few years until Skull takes a phone call in his lab followed by gleeful, blood thirsty Cloud flames saturating his part of the mansion. He leaves three days before the week begins, looking every bit a predator on the hunt with Raging Flames burning in his eyes. He returns a month later with bright eyes and lighter shoulders.

He wears grey, instead of black, for the next however many years. Even through the Ten Years That Never Will Be, he wears grey. The one time he wears black again is in the Ring Battles set up by Checkerface. So does a woman named Sylvie and a masked man named Nile. No one else in their group. Just Skull and Sylvie and Nile.

Years later they will learn Skull's little brother was murdered. Sylvie was his fiancée. Nile, his friend. There was no body for them to bury and Skull only started wearing grey after he killed his brother's murderer.

—

 **Author's Note**

Sylvie, Nile, and Vino are canon characters in Baccano. None of them are Skies but that is coming up in another part of this series.

Skull's ring- The ring in the story is what's known as a mourning ring. They are traditionally made of gold or silver. They have a black inlay. Poorer families would use enamel while the aristocrats would use onyx or jet. Some mourning rings have an engraving of the deceased's name, birth year and death year. Sometimes "Memento Mori" is engraved as well. (Skull's has his brother's name)

Skull wearing black for a week and removing his piercings- This is a hint to Skull's age actually. He is following Victorian European mourning traditions. Wearing all black for a period of time and no accessories (shoe buckles, jewelry, watches, chains, belts, etc.) except for mourning jewelry. Nile wears black in the same manner as Skull while Sylvie wears only black, like the Victorian widows who wore black for the rest of their lives.

White of Deepest Mourning- This is an aristocratic tradition that started losing traction in the mid 1700s but has been used by several monarchs since the 1920s. Deepest mourning is following the standard mourning traditions but wearing white instead of black. While in deepest mourning, it is very much frowned upon to attend non-mandatory functions during the mourning period. That's why Skull attending the gala in white mourning attire cause such a reaction.


End file.
